With national gas prices at a record high under President Joe Biden, averaging above $5 a gallon for the first time EVER, the theft of gasoline is becoming a very real problem in America.
And it was during the commission of just such a crime that a would-be thief had a tough lesson burned into his memory bank when he set himself afire.
The incident took place in Salt Lake City, Utah, when a suspect was allegedly trying to steal gasoline from a parked truck outside Summit Fire and Protection, KSL-TV reported. After failing in an attempt to siphon the fuel, the man got the bright idea to drill a hole into the gas tank instead. In the process of drilling while lying under the truck, a spark ignited the gas and the suspect, who was captured on video running away from the vehicle ablaze.
He dropped and rolled, though doing so in the middle of the parking lot instead of in nearby grass likely delayed the process of extinguishing the fire.
Instant karma for gasoline thief. Guy trying to steal gas sets himself on fire. pic.twitter.com/u5B5ikBI3E
— Mike Sington (@MikeSington) June 16, 2022
“Some people try to take the easy way out of everything,” branch manager Travis Mills told the NBC affiliate after viewing the incident captured on surveillance video.
“The guy tried to siphon gas out of it and he wasn’t getting the siphon to work,” Mills said. “So he decided to drill the gas tank, and that’s when he caught on fire.”
There was a white pickup truck parked next to the work truck and after dropping and rolling, the suspect’s accomplice picked him up and they escaped.
Mills noted that the man was lucky the truck didn’t explode like a bomb.
“The reason why he’s fleeing is that, if there were more gas in it than a gallon, this thing would have absolutely turned into a bomb,” the manager said. “It’s sad because times are tough for a lot of people, but it’s not worth the $5 that he would have saved for the injury that the guy sustained.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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